Back in the Stone Age (or the Middle Ages, for that matter), the immunoglobulin E system had its hands full fighting off roundworms, tapeworms, hookworms, and flukes; it had no time for being precious about dust mites and cat hair.

He was a public health scientist who cruised tropical rivers and hacked his way through jungles - a man who tirelessly fought hookworm, yellow fever, malaria and typhus fever in countries all over the world.